1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Bluetooth® pairing and, more particularly, to an automatic pairing method for a Bluetooth®-enabled mobile terminal, wherein Bluetooth® pairing may be performed automatically without direct user input of a passkey or personal identification number (PIN).
2. Discussion of the Background
Advances in information and communication technologies have increased the popularity of mobile terminals. In addition to basic phone call processing, advanced mobile terminals support various functions, such as music playing and digital broadcast reception. In order to avoid causing annoyance to other persons in public places, headsets may be used during calls, while listening to music, and during digital broadcast reception.
Bluetooth® technology may be used to wirelessly connect a mobile terminal and a headset, thereby eliminating inconvenience due to a long wire connecting the mobile terminal and the headset. To establish a wireless connection between a mobile terminal and headset, the user may have to input a PIN to the mobile terminal. This may result in a long delay when the user switches between different headsets. Also, the headset may have to repeat an inquiry procedure to find a Bluetooth®-enabled mobile terminal in the range, which may increase power consumption. Further, if multiple Bluetooth®-enabled mobile terminals are present in the range, the headset may connect to the mobile terminal having the highest radio frequency signal level in the area instead of to the user's mobile terminal.